Öztürk returned to campus in May but has been prohibited from participating in teaching and research opportunities that would have ordinarily been part of her graduate studies because of her terminated student record in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, known as SEVIS, her lawyer’s argued in court late last year.
Reinstating Öztürk’s record would pave the way for her to return to those activities, make progress with her studies, and engage in on-campus employment, they said.
SEVIS is the central database where universities input information about international students. It is maintained by ICE.
In an early December ruling, US District Judge Denise J. Casper ordered that the record be restored “immediately.”
“The Court concludes that Öztürk has made the requisite showing of irreparable harm,” Casper wrote. “She continues to lose out on paid on-campus employment in which she would otherwise be engaged.”
At a hearing before Casper’s ruling, an attorney for the government, Mark Sauter, contended that the district court did not have jurisdiction to restore Öztürk‘s SEVIS record.
But in explaining her ruling, Casper made her jurisdiction clear.
The Trump administration filed its notice of appeal in federal court in Boston Friday. The notice said the appeal would be sought in the US Court of Appeal for the First Circuit.
A copy of the appeal was not available online Friday night. A federal court filing asked that Casper’s memorandum and order and order of preliminary inunction from Dec. 8, and the notice of appeal, “constitute the abbreviated record on appeal.”
Öztürk’s lawyers with the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts could not immediately be reached for comment.
Öztürk was hopeful immediately after Casper’s order.
“My student SEVIS record was unlawfully canceled by the government for co-authoring an op-ed in which I advocated for equal dignity and humanity for all — and after eight long months, that record will now finally be restored,” Öztürk said in a statement shared by the ACLU after the judge’s decision.
“While I am grateful for the court’s decision, I still feel a great deal of grief for all the educational rights I have been arbitrarily denied,” she said at the time.
Tonya Alanez can be reached at tonya.alanez@globe.com. Follow her @talanez.